The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Friday as a stronger-than-expected retail sales for November reinforced investors' confidence in a steady recovery of the economy.

But tech stocks were pressured by disappointing quarterly results from a semiconductor company, erasing gains for the Nasdaq.

Total retail sales rose for the second straight month in November for the largest advance since August, data from the Commerce Department said.

A separate report showed that consumer sentiment improved in early December, also raising hopes of a self-sustaining economic recovery.

Today is a repeat of prior days, with economic data showing recession is bottoming out and recovery is here, said Rick Lake, portfolio manager of the Aston/Lake Partners LASSO Alternatives Fund in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 63.78 points, or 0.61 percent, at 10,469.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 4.22 points, or 0.38 percent, at 1,106.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 0.67 point, or 0.03 percent, at 2,190.19.

The S&P Retail index <.RLX> was up 1 percent while the S&P Consumer Discretionary sector <.GSPD> gained 0.8 percent.

Mining stocks also advanced after JPMorgan lifted its price target on five companies in the sector, including Alcoa Inc and Freeport McMoRan .

Alcoa shares surged 7 percent to $14.43 and were the top percentage gainer among Dow components.

United Technologies Corp gained 2.4 percent to $69.59 and provided the Dow's biggest lift after the company said it expects profits to rise about 10 percent in 2010 on cost cuts.

But National Semiconductor fell 4.6 percent to $14.58 a day after the company posted results that prompted concerns about its ability to regain market share. The Philadelphia semiconductor index <.SOXX> fell 1.0 percent.

Apple Inc fell 1 percent to $194.46 after the tech bellwether said it had filed a countersuit against Nokia Corp , claiming the cell phone maker was infringing upon Apple patents.

A stronger U.S. dollar, which rose 0.7 percent against a basket of currencies, also caused a headwind for equities. Stocks and the greenback have had an inverse relationship for about nine months.

That inverse correlation partly reflects the so-called carry trade, whereby investors borrow a currency cheaply in order to invest in higher-yielding assets. The unwinding of dollar carry-trades puts pressure on equities as investors sold high-yielding assets to cover short positions in the dollar.

(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Retail sales Retail